Source: New Zealand Government
We are gathered to give thanks for the life of Jim Bolger, but, first, I thank the Bolger family for the privilege of speaking here today on behalf of New Zealand, and on behalf of the National Party.
Jim Bolger dedicated most of his working life to serving this country through politics.
Today, I acknowledge and give thanks for that service and for his achievements.
And I say to Joan, thank you, too. Apart from their own family and work commitments, a Prime Minister’s partner is an unpaid diplomat, advisor, confidante, and so much more. Jim was a better politician for having you by his side.
To Dan, Paul, Brian, Stephen, Bernadette, Fiona, Rachael, Matthew and Aidan, individually and together, you and your mother lost precious family time with Jim over many years, in order for him to be the dedicated Parliamentarian, Cabinet Minister and Prime Minister he was. Thank you for that sacrifice.
In the week since Jim died, there have been many reflections on his political legacy.
For all his family here today, I hope you have taken great pride in the recognition, from across the nation, for the man you knew best as a loving husband, father and family man.
New Zealanders knew him best as the King Country farmer who represented that electorate for 25 years and rose to become Prime Minister, gathering around him a formidable team who accomplished much and helped shape the confident country we are today.
Jim’s parents came from Ireland, from County Wexford, and while he was strong in his Catholic faith, and in his Irish sensibilities, Jim was also very much a son of “County Taranaki”.
The characteristics of an Irish immigrant son and a Taranaki farmer melded easily. He liked to talk. He liked a dram – maybe two. And he was true to his values.
But it’s his leadership as Prime Minister that created Jim’s enduring political legacy.
Winston Churchill once said:
“Everyone can recognize history when it happens. Everyone can recognize history after it has happened. But it is only the wise person who knows at the moment what is vital and permanent, what is lasting and memorable.”
Jim was such a person.
The tributes that have flowed are mostly for the important, foresighted, and principled decisions made by the Government that Jim led as Prime Minister for seven years.
New Zealand’s 35th Prime Minister took office after two tumultuous terms of a Labour government that took on reforms that were necessary and overdue. But, gradually, New Zealanders were alienated by the pace and scale of change, the fractures in the government, and the faltering economy. National roared in in 1990 with a record majority. Jim’s grounded, quintessentially Kiwi manner was part of the appeal of National after those hectic years.
But it would be wrong to think that reforms ended in 1990.
Jim himself was a reformer. He said it was his Irish heritage that helped him understand Māori grievance over Treaty breaches. Sir Geoffrey Palmer had put the Treaty settlement process in place, but someone needed to implement it and make it work. Māori had waited too long already.
It was groundbreaking work and it was not always easy – politics rarely is! First came the settlement with Tainui. Then in 1996, an election year with public pushback against the Treaty process, Ngai Tahu’s settlement pending, and with polling tight, National began to waver.
Jim held firm. He knew the settlements were the right thing to do. The heads of agreement with Ngai Tahu was signed.
New Zealand is a better place for it, and for Jim’s moral certainty. And every Government since has walked in the footprints that Jim, Sir Doug Graham, and their team left behind.
Fixing the economy is another task that isn’t easy. Jim’s government administered harsh medicine – too harsh for the electorate and so, to extend the metaphor, the Government reduced the dosage under Sir Bill Birch’s astute stewardship and got the country growing again.
With Sir Don McKinnon as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jim turned New Zealand’s face towards Asia. Twenty-five years on, we’re still going, building on relationships forged and maintained by Jim, Don and their colleagues.
One of my last encounters with Jim was here on the Kapiti Coast, which he and Joan had come to call home. I was campaigning and visited a bar with Jim at my side. He was nearing his 88th birthday, keenly interested in politics, and still with the ability to hold a room. He was not born a politician, but he became one and remained one till the end and of his life. All of us who had the benefit of a call from him, appreciated his interest and advice.
And so, we say farewell.
Joan, may I say to you, the loss of Jim must feel immeasurable. The Government extends to you and the family our deepest sympathy. I thought it might be apt to conclude with some lines from an Irish poet but, Joan, as I was reading up on Seamus Heaney, I saw his last words to his wife and they seemed most apt: Noli timere. Don’t be afraid.
To Jim, from a grateful nation, thank you.
And as you meet your maker we take can comfort that you can declare with great pride “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” And he will say in reply “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
